Talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions have resumed in Beijing.
Ahead of the six-party discussions, Pyongyang insisted that it had a right to develop a civilian nuclear programme, a position that has barred progress towards ending a three-year impasse on the issue.
China, Russia, Japan, the United States and the two Koreas agree in principle to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
However, analysts say North Korea and the United States remain far apart on key issues.
The US has demanded that North Korea dismantle all of its nuclear weapons programmes, after which energy aid and security guarantees could be granted.
The crisis erupted in October 2002 after Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to a secret programme to enrich uranium, which is used to make atomic weapons, in violation of a 1994 agreement, a claim North Korea later denied.
North Korea responded by throwing out UN weapons inspectors at the end of 2002 and withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003.
The first three rounds of six-party talks ended inconclusively. The fourth round began in late July, after a break of a year, and went into recess after 13 days.
